In thermal printers of related art, a voltage has been applied to a plurality of heat elements incorporated within a thermal head to heat the heat elements and to use the heat of the heat elements to print. Such a printing method has been known as thermal transfer printing or thermosensitive printing. In such printing methods related art, various measures have been taken so that the electrical power applied to the heat elements has been adjusted in accordance with changes of the surrounding temperature, the printed pattern, and the printing speed and the like to maintain a certain level of printing quality as much as possible, regardless of the conditions of use.
Depending upon the conditions of use, transient instabilities in the printing, in particular at the start of printing may occur. For this reason, poor printing (for example, faint spots) that continues until stable printing is possible led to a loss of printing quality.
The thermal printers of related art are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H7-81108, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H9-314886, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. H10-181069, and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2006-116952.